Delhi and Dhaka look at November dates for Tarique Rahman’s India visit

Moving to put their relations back on track, Delhi and Dhaka have begun talks on a bilateral visit to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, exploring a window in the latter half of November, The Indian Express has learnt.

This development comes days after the New Delhi summit of BRICS leaders — Rahman did not attend though India, as the host nation, extended an invitation to Bangladesh since it is the current chair of the BIMSTEC grouping.

Earlier, Delhi had invited Rahman for a bilateral visit in August. But that did not materialise. There was outrage in Bangladesh over the remarks of Sheikh Hasina, the country’s ousted Prime Minister who has been living in India, during an interaction with the media via an audio link on August 5 which marked two years of the fall of her government.

Sources said the two sides are now looking at dates in November for a bilateral visit.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi had extended an invitation to Rahman for a stand-alone bilateral visit after he entered office in February following the elections in Bangladesh.

Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi is learnt to have initiated the conversation in Dhaka and Delhi, and the two sides are looking at possible dates that also suit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schedule.

A change of guard is also taking place at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi. High Commissioner M Riaz Hamidullah is expected to head to Geneva as Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN. Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam is expected to replace him as the new High Commissioner of Bangladesh. The formal paperwork is said to be underway because the official agreement has to be approved by the Indian government.

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Sources said the two sides are trying to overcome the diplomatic challenge following the postponement of Rahman’s visit in August.

Ties between the two countries, severely strained following the 2024 ouster of Hasina, had been looking up after Rahman took charge of Bangladesh in February. But Hasina’s public interaction in New Delhi this August angered Dhaka which has been seeking her extradition to Bangladesh where she faces a death sentence.

At the heart of scheduling Rahman’s visit is Dhaka’s pre-condition that a “propitious environment needs to be created” for it – a reference to the presence of Hasina in India and her public statements.

Bangladesh wants a clear response on the steps being taken on the issue of Hasina’s extradition. Delhi has not yet responded, and a battle of nerves is being played out amid hectic negotiations to find a “middle ground”.

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While stating that the extradition request is “being examined”, the Indian side has been emphasising on a forward-looking relationship built on “mutuality of interests and reciprocity”. Delhi has signalled that it aims to address broader bilateral and security concerns alongside Dhaka’s requests.

Sources said the two sides are “aware” of the significance of the Rahman visit, and have much to benefit from a strong and robust relationship.

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More